


A New Start

by Musetotheworld



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, New Beginnings, SuperCat Slam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 00:23:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8380192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: Cat and Kara start building a new life, together.





	

“I think that’s the last of them.”

A quick glance around proves Kara is right, Cat has meticulously kept track of each and every box they’ve packed, unwilling to leave anything behind. With Kara’s strength and stamina they hadn’t needed to hire movers for the important things, though the heavier things like furniture had of course been taken care of by professionals to avoid awkward questions. But the things that matter, the memories in tangible form that Cat has carefully collected over the years, those she’s unwilling to risk. She wants to build on them, to collect even more as the years pass, and she can’t bear the thought of even one being misplaced.

“I think you’re right,” is all she says, depositing her own, much smaller, load in the corner of the room. The piles of boxes make her skin itch more than even the dust coating her arms, but she knows they won’t be there long. If not for the fact she’s insisting their first night together in this, _their_ new house, be spent together in bed she knows she’d wake up to each and every one unpacked and arranged carefully on the shelves. “Have you moved your things here yet?”

“Alex is finishing stacking the boxes for me now,” Kara explains, pulling out her phone to check for an update. “There aren’t many of them; most of my clothes were already at your place. And other than my painting supplies I don’t have much to move.” She’ll be keeping the apartment as a handy place to change and deal with any other Supergirl related situations, so none of her furniture is moving, only the smaller items.

Cat knows there’s another reason she’s leaving the furniture where it is, and she wishes she knew how to ease that fear. They’ve worked on it over the months they’ve been together, but even now Kara still feels almost unworthy to be in Cat’s life, in her home. It’s why when Cat had asked her to move in, she’d insisted they find a new place, one that Kara helped choose. One that would be theirs from the beginning, not Cat’s with Kara making a place. A new start for them both.

“Do I want to know how you convinced your sister to pack your things by herself?” Cat asks instead of starting a heavier discussion, wanting this to be a happy day. “It hardly seems fair.”

“She actually kicked me out,” Kara admits sheepishly, looking down into the box she’s just opened. “Apparently I was a little enthusiastic about this move, and she got tired of listening to me.”

Cat melts a little at that, but she can’t let herself be distracted every time Kara does or says something heartwarming or she’ll never get anything done. “So she decided to subject me to your boundless enthusiasm instead, I see. How kind of her.” The smile Kara shoots her way reassures Cat that the meaning behind the barb had been understood, not that she’d worried it wouldn’t be. Even before they’d started dating Kara had known her well enough to see through such an obvious deflection. Now that they’re together, Cat knows the true affection in her meaning is clear in her eyes, in the softness of her gaze as she looks at Kara.

“I think she wanted you to see what you were stuck with,” Kara teases back, and Cat is glad to hear nothing but lighthearted teasing in her voice. Towards the beginning of their relationship, there would have been a much different meaning behind the words.

“Remind me to thank her then,” Cat says with a vaguely suggestive smirk, running her eyes pointedly over Kara’s arms, left bare thanks to the tank top she’s wearing for the move. They’re covered in dust and a few streaks of dirt picked up somewhere during the move, and Cat thinks she probably shouldn’t find this slightly disheveled version of Kara so attractive, but she can’t help it. As much as she hates the mere presence of dirt in her vicinity, unable to think of where it could have come from given how clean she insists on keeping her personal space, on Kara the allure is impossible to deny. Thank God Carter is with his father this week, because Cat does not see them being quiet tonight.

Kara flushes right on cue, still easily flustered by the compliments Cat is quick to offer these days. She’d spent too long pretending she didn’t see the younger woman, ignoring her input and contributions, and once they’d gotten together she’d vowed to change that. It hadn’t been easy, she’s never been one to willingly soften, but Kara thrives on being seen and so Cat had worked to change. It had been a challenge, for both of them, but now they’ve settled into what the other needs. Cat had learned to be open, to let someone in and balance their needs against her many demands. And Kara had learned to be firm without the cape, to stand up for what she wanted rather than fall into the habit of making Cat happy no matter what.

“She did request that we feed her as thanks for the help,” Kara says, blush slowly fading as Cat turns her attention to the pile of boxes, trying to decide where to start first.

“Well, that is the tradition,” Cat says as she begins to place pictures along the mantle of the mostly decorative fireplace, leaving space for Kara to add some of her own. She doesn’t want to really start unpacking until Kara’s things are here as well, the whole point of the move being to start together, but if she doesn’t at least make a start on the boxes she won’t be able to relax all night. “Free food in exchange for help moving.”

“So that’s real then?” Kara asks as she organizes books on their shelves, knowing how Cat likes them to be arranged. There’s another built in bookshelf across the room that will be hers to do with as she wants, as both women have distinct preferences when it comes to their books. They’d learned early on that it’s just better to have two separate bookcases, and that and a relatively secluded balcony had been deal breakers for every house they’d looked at. “Alex told me it was one of those things you read about in books and see on TV but that no one actually does.”

“How many times did you help her move?” Cat asks as she places the last of the frames, voice carefully neutral in a way that tells Kara there’s more to the question and yet gives nothing away.

It only takes a second for Kara to answer, Cat marveling once again at how her girlfriend’s memory works. “Five times, she got an apartment her second year of college that she stayed in until she relocated for the DEO and I got it.”

“She played you.” The statement is even, calm, and said without a break in unpacking. Cat knows Kara well enough at this point to predict her reaction, and well enough to know her amusement should be kept as internal as possible, at least until Kara won’t take it personally.

“Alex would never do that.” The disbelief in Kara’s voice sounds more like willful denial, and Cat suppresses a sigh. “I-there’s no way she would do something like that.”

“You mean like there’s no way she’d convince you that chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows? Or that the ice cream truck only plays music when they’re out of ice cream?” Cat points out as she opens another box, considering the contents for a moment before setting it to the side for later. “Darling, think about how much it takes to feed you on a regular day, let alone when you’ve been constantly moving. For the cost of feeding you, Alex could probably have hired moving companies each time she moved.”

It’s a struggle to keep back her laugh at the look of betrayal on Kara’s face, but somehow Cat manages, crossing the room to offer some form of comfort to Kara as she processes the news. It’s a familiar dance, though rarely is the comfort due to Alex’s tricks. Usually it’s something more serious, or someone making a comment that cuts a little too close to the insecurities Kara still feels, but the comfort is the same.

“Just for that I’m putting onions on her pizza,” Kara decides after a moment, Cat’s laugh escaping despite her best efforts. “I’m serious, she hates the things. And it’ll serve her right.”

“I wasn’t arguing.” Cat has more than a few doubts about Kara’s ability to follow through with the threat, but she does know that one way or another Kara will get back at her sister. Maybe not with food related revenge, but _somehow_. “What time is she going to be coming over?”

“She said she had about thirty minutes left until the boxes were packed, and then she was going to go ahead a bring a load over for me to grab,” Kara says, checking her phone again. “So maybe an hour?”

“Perfect,” Cat says, giving the boxes one last look before resolutely turning her back on them. They’ll be there tomorrow, and as much as she hates and loves that fact, now isn’t the time to deal with them. “Just enough time for a long shower.”

“I can call an order in now for delivery and join you?” Kara says, almost asking permission, and Cat rolls her eyes in response.

“That would be why I said a long shower, Kara.” Cat points out, voice lowering in a way that leaves Kara fumbling with her phone, dropping it entirely when Cat winks at her. “Now hurry and order the food so we can clean up before Alex gets here.”

It takes longer than Cat had anticipated for Kara to join her, and Cat isn’t entirely sure whether it’s due to making sure the new delivery location understands who it is they’re delivering to, or whether she’d flustered Kara enough to give her trouble getting the order out at all. Whichever reason, it allows Cat to take the time to actually wash the sweat of the day from her body, sighing in relief as she watches the water run clean. As much as she loves this house, the new start they’re building, she’ll be glad when everything is done and she can go back to cleanliness and order.

When Kara joins her, slipping under the edges of the spray with a contended sigh and quick kiss to the side of Cat’s neck, she’s quick to switch their positions and move Kara directly under the water, grabbing Kara’s body wash and beginning to wash the dirt from her girlfriend’s body. As much as she’d like to feel Kara pressed against her, she’s going to need her a lot cleaner before that happens. Cat’s put up with enough dirt and dust for one day.

“I can wash myself a lot faster than you can,” Kara teases as Cat runs her hands along firm biceps, subtly flexing the muscles in a way that Cat knows is deliberate.

“Yes, but I enjoy when I get the chance to take care of you for once,” Cat admits, touch slowly turning less deliberate and more exploratory as the water washes away the soap and dirt both. “And it’s not like this is any hardship for me.”

“No, but it sure makes keeping my hands to myself a struggle.” The return admission is almost enough to make Cat’s knees go weak with the heat behind it, but she hasn’t gotten this far in life to let her reactions get the best of her.

“Well then, maybe it’s time you put them to use,” Cat whispers into Kara’s ear as she holds herself upright by sheer force of will, gasping in surprise when Kara turns her head without warning to capture her lips in a deep kiss, slowly dismantling every bit of Cat’s self-control until she’s pressing shamelessly against the younger woman.

After that Cat loses track of everything but the feeling of Kara against and around her, enjoying the added space of their new shower. The amount of preparation that had gone into the move had cut down on the amount of time they’d been able to spend together, and Cat isn’t about to rush through the first chance they’ve gotten to really relax in weeks.

Eventually she isn’t sure her legs will support her if they don’t take a break, and reluctantly disentangles herself from Kara. The whine of protest from Kara tests her resolve, but the grumble of her stomach immediately after that decides for her. She knows Kara loves her, but that can’t compare to the way Kara loves food. She’d known that she couldn’t compare long before they’d gotten together, in fact.

“I’d wondered when you two would remember you had company,” Alex says, surprising them as they walk into the dining room. “Luckily I got here at the same time as the pizza guy, so we still have food. I’m guessing you both need it.”

Cat refuses to be embarrassed, but she can feel Kara flushing next to her. No matter how many times Alex finds something to tease them about, Kara reacts the same way. Hopefully the food is enough of a distraction, or dinner will be quiet as Kara avoids her sister’s eyes as much as possible.

“Our thanks for your help extends to free food, not to comments intended to embarrass your sister,” Cat says pointedly, reminding Kara of their earlier conversation and diverting the conversation.

“Yeah, that cat’s out of the bag,” Kara says when Alex looks sheepish, her glare lacking any bite but enough to keep her sister from adding anything to her earlier statement. “You’re just lucky your pizza doesn’t have onions.”

“I’ll shut up if we can call it even,” Alex tries, and Kara thinks a moment before nodding.

“Pass the breadsticks.”


End file.
